CHAPTER IV.

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Next morning we were marched away in pursuit of the flying foe. Our road lay along the Bayou Teche through a charming sugar region. Madame Porter's plantation, already mentioned, seemed a tropical paradise. The elegant mansion, the delightful grounds, the wilderness of flowers, orange groves with fruit like the golden apples of the Hesperides, Madame Porter herself, a splendidly beautiful woman,-all looked lovely as peace itself in contrast with the ugliness of war. Her young son was taken prisoner, but soon released. We passed the residence of a wealthy negro, himself an extensive slave-owner, who had raised and equipped at his own expense a company of white soldiers for the Confederate ser-vice. His wife, it was said, was a white woman, who had come South to teach. How often the sublime topples over into the ridiculous.

That morning a rebel planter requested Col. Birge to furnish a guard to protect Ms property. " Certainly," said the Colonel, " if you are a loyal citizen of the United States." " I'm a loyal citizen of the Confederate States," he answered with an oath. "Then I can't furnish a guard," was the rejoinder. In a few minutes we saw, on looking back, a dense mass of smoke ascending from his dwelling ; a sight far too common in Louisiana.

We marched fifteen miles that day, the enemy occasionally attempting to retard our progress.

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Many of them were taken prisoners. April 16, we continued the pursuit. At night we bivouacked in New Iberia. April IT, we passed, as we left town, the carcasses of fourteen horses that marked yesterday's cavalry fight. At evening, after a twenty miles march they made a stand at Vermilion Bayou. Here they set the bridge on fire after a sharp resistance to our van. The Thirteenth marched rapidly in line of battle to the scene of action. The shells fell harmless around us. At night the regiment moved cautiously and silently in the darkness to the river side. No lights were allowed. We lay on our arms in line all night; one of the first instances of a nocturnal experience that became very common. Instructions were carefully communicated in reference to our duty in case of a night attack.

Next morning, Captain Grosvenor was sent with Company I to reconnoiter. No enemy in sight. During the day a large number of soldiers in bathing were frightened by what they took for the advance guard of the rebels, and rushed back to camp in precipitate flight, " naked as when from earth they came !" Companies A and B, having been deployed and advanced as skirmishers, found only a squad of deserters corning in.

The march had begun to be severely felt, and many of our men fell behind exhausted. Scanty rations, nights without cover, no change of clothing, the heat of noon, the cold of midnight, heavy dews, fast marching with the regiment always compact and ready for action, some of us suffering from wounds-all combined to render the intelligence most welcome, that we must rest a clay to rebuild the burnt bridge.

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The enemy, too, were mostly mounted, and our efforts to catch them would have been amusing, had they not been so hopeless and fatiguing. The battle of Vermilion Bayou was inscribed on the colors of some regiments, and might have been with equal propriety on ours.

At night, a cold, heavy rain flooded the ground, and nearly drowned us. Next morning, Sunday, April 19, we marched fifteen miles in pursuit towards Opelousas. April 20, we marched an equal distance, halting a mile from town, Companies H and I) went out on picket. The rest of the regiment, having just got sound asleep, were waked at ten and a half o'clock, and pushed eight miles further to Washing-ton, La. Here the two companies rejoined them next day at sunset.

Much dissatisfaction prevailed at being so hurried along in pursuit of a foe who appeared to have outgeneraled us and rendered nugatory our victories of Franklin, Irish Bend and Vermilion Bayou. One day General Banks rode past our regiment as we lay sweltering in the sun. Not a cheer greeted him. As he passed in silence, our chaplain, Rev. Henry Upson, remarked to several who sat exhausted in the dust be-side the fence, " What abominable mismanagement on the part of Banks! I think he'd better declare again, 'The object of the expedition being accomplished, the troops will return to Baton Rouge !' " "Why, Chaplain," inquired the writer, "who, after all, could have done better than Banks ?" " Who could have done better !" he replied ; " Grover could have done better; Birge could have done better ; Warner could have done better ; you could have done

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better ; I could have done better. What's your name boy ?" he said to a little soldier. " McDonough, yer Riverance." " Well, McDonough could have done better ! Seriously, I'd rather be under McDonough than Banks !"

April 22, Dwight's brigade passed us on the road to Alexandria. We moved this day through Washing-ton to a beautiful grassy knoll, half a mile from the village and close to the residence of a Captain Prescott of the rebel army. Colonel Warner was appoint-ed Military Commander of the town. Mrs. Warner having arrived, the Colonel occupied Prescott's house as head-quarters. It was well furnished and contained many fine pictures and valuable books. Part of the contents had been hastily packed but abandoned. Captain Tisdale with his company was assigned to, provost duty. Captain Com well was still acting regimental quartermaster; Captain Mitchell, acting assistant adjutant general of Colonel Birge, whose brigade head-quarters was near Opelousas; Captains Comstock, Blimi, McCord, Finley and Puller, were absent sick ; Captain Grosvenor, present, sick ; Captain Sprague, the only captain present for duty, was in command of the regiment.

April 23, the Military Governor of Louisiana, Gen, Shepley, paid us a visit. April 24, Lieutenant Meissner was thrown from a disloyal mule, and his collar-bone fractured. April 25, General Weitzel and staff and Colonel Birge visited us.

April 26, Chaplain Upson preached in the Methodist church, the first Union sermon, heard in that town for years. The text was, " Fight the good fight of Faith," with special emphasis on the first word.

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Many soldiers and negroes and a few poor whites constituted, the congregation. An officer's diary contains the comment, u It was a Jewish and not a non-resist-ant discourse ; in which the preacher fully coincided with the Psalmist in imprecating 'vengeance on his enemies, and gave an edifying description of "what lie considered to be a good fight."

April 27, private John Pogarty was shot at ten p. M., while endeavoring to escape from the officer of the day, whose repeated commands to halt lie was disobeying. His sudden death was a subject of painful recollection to his company, commander and comrades, A Court of Inquiry, of which Captain Corn well was-president, fully justified the shooting. Next evening at dress parade where' Lieut. Wells commanded, an order of the Military Commander was read, reciting the occurrence and warning soldiers of the penalty of disobedience.

April 30, our senior captain, Comstock, rejoined us. Friday morning, May 1, we marched ten miles from Washington to Barre's Landing on the Bayou Courtableau, where we arrived at noon, Company E, as provost guard, and the sick, were left behind at Washington. Among the latter was Lieutenant Bradley, who appeared to be at the point of death from fever, His condition was, long critical, but he finally recovered.

May 2, Lieutenant Deming, Company H, was assigned for duty to the First Louisiana Engineers (colored), Colonel Hodge's regiment. Hours for duty were announced as follows: Reveille, sunrise; sick-call, 6 AM ; breakfast, 6:30; drill, 7:80 to 8:80; picket-guard, 8:40; camp-guard, 8:50; drill, 10 to 11;

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hold the regiment in readiness to move at four o'clock next morning with two days' cooked rations. Capt. Finley arrived at evening after several months' absence in the North, where he had gone from Thibodeaux In consequence of a terribly severe sickness. Lieutenant-colonel Warner was released from arrest this day. Next day we marched seventeen miles back to Cheneyville. Here in the depot was an immense quantity of sugar belonging to the Confederate government, all of which was soon made into candy by our soldiers.

May 15, we marched fourteen miles, toward Simsport, to Enterprise, a place which some wag must have named on the lucus-a-non-lucendo principle.

May 16, we marched sixteen miles and encamped alongside the Bayou Rouge. Peter, colored servant of Lieut. Perkins, was tied up and flogged by Provost Marshal Cowie for taking a handful of rebel sugar from a hogshead for his master.

May 17, we marched twelve miles, the last eight of them along Bayou de Glaze to its junction with the Atchafalaya at Simsport. We crossed the Atchafalaya on large flat-boats, rowed by negro boatmen, who sung a plaintive song as they plied the long oars. The Thirteenth had the honor of crossing first. We then marched half a mile to the music of our unequalled band. Finding no one to report to, we sat down alongside the fine mansion of Senator Sims (called also by the contrabands, General Sims, or Semmes). The house was made Headquarters, Department of the Gulf.

Orders were received at night to " have full rations

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cooked, reveille at four A. M., and march at five;" hut when morning came these orders were counter minded. Almost immediately, however, we were marched across the road, and into the field between the houses of Mr. Sims and Mr. Tishins, We had just established ourselves in camp, if a prostrate regiment, a few of whom have blankets stretched over them, can be called a camp, when we were moved, again to another part of the same field, and there went into a similar form. At three P. M. we " fell in " to move again. A detail was now made from every company to carry back rails, and rebuild the distinguished rebel's fence, from which our soldiers had taken a few sticks for- fires or beds.

May 18 and 19, our troops were still crossing the river. Col. Warner, Chaplain Upson, Captain Core-well, Adjutant Whittlesey, and several other officers, among whom was Quartermaster Bromley, visited one of the few elegant mansions, and were hospitably received by the ladies. After some time spent in agree-able conversation, one of the ladies volunteered to execute some music on the piano. She commenced the Bonnie Blue Flag-. When she reached the close of the line, " As long- as the Union was faithful to her trust," her emotions overcame her, her voice faltered, tears streamed down her cheeks, and hastily rising she left the room. Much sympathy was felt for the beautiful woman in her grief, and the hearts of our susceptible officers softened towards the lovely and melodious impersonation of rebellion. The dignified matron " improved "the occasion as follows: " Alas ! we are no longer united ! Once we had one country, one people, one nation. Now we have a northern

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country, and a southern country, a northern people, and a southern people, a northern nation and a southern nation !" " Allow me in this connection, to. re-mark, Madam," interrupted Bromley in his blandest, politest manner, " that the second nation you so beautifully allude to, is a mere imagination!" This convulsed the listeners with merriment and restored good feelings at once," " What's the real object of this expedition?" asked Mrs. Semmes." The real object of the expedition," replied the Chaplain, "is to pro-tract the expedition until the quartermasters and con-tractors all get rich. I verily believe if they had their way they'd keep us in these swamps as long as the children of Israel were kept in the wilderness." " Chaplain Upson," responded Bromley, " I can tell you why the children of Israel were detained so long in the wilderness, It was because they had too many chaplains and too few quartermasters!"

Continuous cannonading was now heard nearly every night. Reports reached us that several heavy guns had been silenced by our fleet at Port Hudson.

These days of rest, though few and brief, were like an oasis in the desert, after our toilsome marches in. the burning heat with the enemy forever in striking distance, The fields were covered with blackberries, which our soldiers gathered by the bushel. The river Atchafalaya, believed by some geologists to be the original channel of the Mississippi, was at this season broad, deep, swift, abounding with alligators ; yet our men. greatly enjoyed bathing in it.

May 21 was signalized by a free fight in the Thirteenth, principally between members of Companies H and D. Privates Shannon and Doyle of H met in

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single combat; private Blake undertook to part them; lie wouldn't have any fighting, if lie had to whip them both, He would conquer peace. Lieu-tenant Wells, officer of the day, mistook Blake for an active combatant, which indeed he seemed to have be-come. Wells endeavored to arrest Blake. Private Cashin, another peace man, came to the defense of Blake and drew a bayonet on. the lieutenant. Corporal Herbert and several other members of Co. I rushed to the lieutenant's assistance. Other members of II assisted Blake, Cashin and Doyle. Captain Fuller, of Co. D, drew his pistol and rushed into the melee to aid the lieutenant; but getting thrown on his back, other members of Company D supported their Captain. Lieut. Norman now sprang to the help of the two officers, whereupon members of Co. K rah to the help of Lieut. Norman. So the fight became general. Swords were drawn, pistols flourished, and bayonets thrust. Captain of Co. H, field officer of the day, took the guard and marched rapidly to the spot, bringing the pieces to a charge bayonet! The crowd dispersed instantly. No one being much hurt, it passed off as a huge joke. Louisiana rum was at the bottom of it.

The same day our brigade embarked on the steamers Empire Parish and Saint Maurice for the siege of Port Hudson. Our course was up the Atchafalaya to Old River, thence out to the Mississippi, and down to Bayou Sara. This is some twenty miles above Port Hudson. Near the mouth of Red River we saw the flag-ship Hartford, and the two iron-clads, Lafayette and Switzerland; when the brigade gave three cheers for Farragut. At midnight we arrived at Bayou Sara.

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 We disembarked, and lay an hour on the wet ground without blankets, a slight rain adding to our discomfort. The regiment then crept cautiously along the streets and out of town in the deep darkness. As we passed one large dwelling house the front door opened, A figure in white appeared, and asked in the sweetest of tones, " What regiment is this ?" Some of our boys replied, " The Thirteenth, my darling!" " Ah ! the Thirteenth Georgia ?" she tenderly asked. " No, my dear ; the Thirteenth Connecticut," was the reply, The door shut with a heavy slam. The seraph in white had vanished, "As an angel's wings through an opening cloud, Is seen and then withdrawn."

Halting now and then, and, as it were, feeling our way, we finally turned aside half a mile from town into a field which, ominously enough, proved, to be, a cemetery. The scant baggage of officers on the march had been left in wagons, and we slept as best we might, without fires or blankets. Ex-governor Wickliffe, reputed at that time the handsomest man in Louisiana, was arrested this night in Bayou Sara as a prisoner of war. Here we found people who did not know what greenbacks were. When we explain ed, they refused to take them and insisted on receiving confederate paper in payment for butter, honey, corn-bread, and milk.

At nine o'clock, A. M., we marched out on the road towards Port Hudson, our skirmishers feeling; their way, and the troops making halts about once every half mile. About twenty men of the Thirteenth were hastily mounted and detached as advance guards.

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From time to time they engaged the guerilla cavalry of the enemy. In one of these skirmishes private Flannery of Company B, received a ball through the leg, and was borne past us on a stretcher, the first man wounded of the army approaching Port Hudson from the north. Lieutenant Perkins was reported killed, but we were delighted soon after to find him " all right." On this march General Banks commenced picking up all the able-bodied negroes, and mounting them on mules, to the great distress of Governor Wickliffe, who accompanied us on foot-About noon General Banks passed us. We were at a halt. He was alone, and riding towards the front into danger. Our men liked this unpretending manner and his personal bravery, and for the first, time they gave him a rousing cheer. Captain Mitchell volunteered as a temporary aid to the General, who exhibited a fearlessness that almost amounted to recklessness.

This day, May 23, we reached a point six or seven miles from Port Hudson. Towards dark a little episode occurred in the camp of the Thirteenth. A certain Dr. Whither, surgeon of the Confederate line, stationed at Port Hudson, was arrested. He had been seen on horse-back during the day, taking notes from time to time on the road, inquiring the names of regiments and brigades. His appearance and manner excited suspicion. He looked about thirty-five years old, evidently a man of some education and ability, a little under the influence of stimulants, and a perfect embodiment of chivalry. As night approached he was seen riding slowly in a buggy, the orderly of Colonel Bissell, Twenty-fifth Connecticut, accompanying

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him. Inquiring of our soldiers where the pickets were, lie attempted to pass them. Not being permitted without a pass from General Grover, he returned. Two or three officers, hearing the statements of the men, made known their suspicions to Colonel Warner r who called him Back and asked him who he was.

" I want to see General Grover," he answered.

" Who are you ?" said the Colonel.

" What business have you to ask me that question ?"

" I command this regiment, and I have a right to know who's in my camp. Your conduct has been very suspicious, and I demand to be answered, and answered in a respectful manner."

" It's none of your d-- business. I shall go to General Grover, d-- you, and report your d--- insolence," replied Dr. Whicher.

" You are my prisoner, sir, and you need not try to intimidate me," said the Colonel.

"I try to intimidate you! I swear that's a --- -- bright idea, by --! I. try to intimidate you in presence of the whole Yankee Army ! That is a d-- pretty idea 1 In the middle of the whole Federal army ! -- --- your army ! -- ----; you and your army !"

"You infernal puppy !" said Colonel Warner, "you shut up your mouth. Lieutenant Norman, are you officer of the guard ? Take this man to General 'Grover with my compliments. Tell him that he refuses:; to disclose his name, and I suspect him of being' got spy."

"By --" responded Dr. Whicher, " I'm not afraid to disclose my name. My name's Whicher. I'm a surgeon of the Confederate line, by --.

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I'm not afraid of any d-- Yankee that ever breathed ! -- -- your cowardly soul ! By --- I'd like to fight you. I dare you to fight! By --- I'll fight you with pistols, I'll fight you with rifles, I'll fight you with bowie-knives, I'll fight you with any d--weapon you choose." Springing upon his feet in the buggy, he struck his right fist violently into the palm of his left hand, gesticulating fiercely, defying us all and spitting out a torrent of curses. It was suggested by the writer to Colonel Warner to examine his pockets for papers. Norman's guard having arrived, the doctor was searched, and on him was found a paper signed by the commander of the Confederate picket inside Port Hudson, ordering, " Pass Dr. Whicher at all hours ;" also, a letter purporting to come from the daughter or niece of a rebel prisoner, praying some friend to intercede with General Banks, humbling though it might be, to rescue her relative from the horrid Yankees.

The horse and buggy were given to Dr. Clary for transportation of the sick. Of the roast chicken and corn-bread inside the vehicle it was rumored that Adjutant Whittlesey made a good evening meal. Dr. Whicher's shirts also were confiscated; a practice not to be justified under any circumstances. Dr. Whicher himself was delivered into the custody of the provost marshal.

This night It rained, and the officers sleeping under the thorn trees, without blankets or even shelter-tents, passed a most dreary night.

Next day we moved, with the rest of Grover's Division, three or four miles to the cross roads leading To Jackson from Bayou Sara and Port Hudson. Here

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we met Greisen's cavalry, Weitzel was reported closing in on our right; Dwight, between us and Weitzel ; Auger, on our loft next the river. Augur was reported to have had a sharp fight in which he drove the enemy a day or two before. At the forks of the roads we hastily constructed breast-works' of fence rails, logs and earth, to repel any sortie. Had the enemy been wise they would have evacuated the place before our arrival, and the rebel general, Johnson, did send a courier with such orders, which were either intercepted or disobeyed. Sergeant Steele, Company A, was here injured by rails falling on him.

At half past nine, A, M., Sunday, May 24,1863, the different converging columns drew nearer, and the investment was complete, Birge's brigade moved three miles. The first shot at our advance on the Jackson road, in which our regiment marched, was just before noon. Sharp skirmishing ensued. A labyrinth of woods, lanes, and ravines afforded cover for defensive operations, We carried several outer earth-works and rifle-pits on the Jackson road, and pressed the enemy back within their main parapet. Advancing, the Thirteenth., near the last bridge, struck off diagonally to the right into the woods, and took a position half a mile from the principal line of works. Here we were treated to shell and grape, and two or three received slight wounds. The bugs and vermin were quite as disagreeable as the rebel projectiles, The whole of the woods for miles bore traces of having been a rebel camp, and confirmed the report that at the bombardment in March they had not less than eighteen thousand men. Captain Fuller was sent in command of Companies A, F, D, and I. Holding A

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 as reserve, he sent Lieuts. Strickland, Beckwith and Wells forward with the three other companies to skirmish. Sharp fighting ensued, the officers and men pressing forward with the utmost gallantry, until they were outflanked and obliged to retire. Here fell that brave and true man, Sergeant Torrence, Co. F. He was leading his men, when a bullet pierced his forehead. Three days later we found his body, then swollen and blackened in the sun, far to the front where he fell.

Next morning, Cos. A.F.D,I, H, under command of Captain Sprague, were pushed forward to a thicket on the left of the Jackson road, and about a hundred and twenty rods from the parapet; the other half of the regiment remaining in the woods with Col. Warner. The captain threw out twenty-five skirmishers under Lieut. Wells, with orders to press the enemy's sharpshooters and at night constitute a picket. They forced the enemy back to their rifle-pits, and In the afternoon put a stop to most of the sharp-shooting that had been so annoying in the morning. A shower of balls saluted any one who stepped from behind cover,

We were startled by rapid and tremendous volleys, of musketry close to us on the right, mingled with discharges of artillery. It was the regiments of Dwight firing by company, and the rapidity seemed to indicate serious work. It soon ceased, however, at a bugle signal.

A decayed tree in our front by the road-side appearing to be a guide for their artillery, it was suggested to Col. Birge to cut it down. He sent pioneers, who felled it that night.

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By direction of Col. Birge, privates Sidder, McGrath, and Ellis Robinson, all of G, were selected by Captain Sprague and sent out at midnight with instructions to crawl up to the parapet, examine the intervening ground, the width and depth of the moat, and the practicability of scaling the works. We supplied them with pistols. They were unable to reach the ditch, but they passed the rebel pickets. Their investigations were valuable, and their courage deserved reward. The pickets of the Twenty-fifth Connecticut fired on them by mistake.

Sergeants Aldrich and Ward, of H and D, were sent to open communication with Augur's infantry on our left. With some difficulty and danger they succeeded. Thenceforward these bases were in constant connection.

From, tree-tops we could see miles of fortifications, heavy guns mounted, tents, huts, houses, the rebel flag, regiments and companies marching, and what appeared to be inner earthworks. May 26, Colonel Birge's pioneers constructed a ladder on the main look-out tree at our place of regimental bivouac. Sergeants Huntley, Ward, and other intelligent noncommissioned officers were kept constantly on the watch at the top with powerful glasses. At the foot of the tree was General Grover, or one of his staff. Frequent messengers from Augur inquired about the enemy's movements, and the effect of our heavy shot.

From a captain's diary the following is extracted: " May 27, about half-past ten A. M., the Thirteenth was ordered to the support of Weitzel who was reported pressing into the enemy's works on our right. We moved in that direction half or three-quarters of

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 a mile, through the woods which contained many dead and wounded. The enemy's projectiles were still shrieking through the woods. Here we halted and lay all the afternoon in line of battle, expecting the order to charge, while the dead and wounded were borne in long procession past us. The Twelfth Connecticut is reported to have fought bravely and conspicuously, some of them scaling the parapet, Weitzel's whole brigade behaved finely. Three of his staff were killed. One of them was his Adjutant General, Captain Hubbard, formerly of the First Maine Battery, one of the finest looking and best officers in the army ; another was the accomplished Pole, Wrotnowski, one of the most skillful of our engineers, the builder of ¥ort Butler at Donaldsonville. The Twelfth Maine charged across the moat and lay all day on the slope of the breastwork. The negro regiment of Colonel Nelson fought with reckless daring, and the most extravagant tales of their heroism are .related by the correspondent of the New York Herald and others. There was no need of exaggeration. The simple fact is, the negroes fought well, and their heroic conduct reflects honor on their race. Generals Sherman and Dow were wounded. Two or three of the Thirteenth were slightly wounded."

The shower of balls was so severe that some of our cooks dared not bring dinner or supper. Happily we were allowed to lie down behind logs, while the long storm wreaked its vengeance on trees and horses. But the regiments of Weitzel suffered terribly. After his own desperate onset had failed, he is said to have sent word to General Banks, " I have yet to learn that any other general has co-operated in the assault, which was ordered to be simultaneous."

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May 28, there was an armistice of several hours, to allow the burial of the dead. We moved at evening a quarter of a mile to the left, to support Duryea's and Bainbridge's batteries. We were here placed temporarily under Acting Brigadier General Paine, commanding a division. This night we slept on arms in line.

Next morning we moved back to the position of the preceding day. Again we received all day a smart sprinkling of rebel balls. They had a cross-fire on us, as the writer learned when, seated with back to a tree, a ball tore off the bark under his ear. Corporal Finnegan, Go. G, received a ball through the arm. To venture from behind cover was sure to engage the skill of the rebel sharpshooters. We became accustomed to being shot at. We were strikingly remind-ed how vast a quantity of lead and iron may fly through the air and alight on this wide world, with-out hurting a human being ! Some of these visitors came close. One bullet passed through Colonel Birge's coat. A rain at night soaked everything, and we thought how old Cromwell trusted in God, and wondered if he really kept his powder dry. A brisk artillery fire at night awoke us from dreams of home.

May 30 was a busy day. The continued rattle of musketry and artillery indicated that we were getting well-acquainted. This interchange of civilities indicated no personal hostility. We did not feel like: hurting one hair of a rebel head. Never did men march to battle with less hatred than the Union soldiers.

The Thirteenth remained all day, and for two weeks thereafter, in a ravine, under and behind the

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 two batteries. Two thirty-pound Parrots of the Twenty-first Indiana were mounted on the right. The shot were continually sounding past us from the volcanic works in front. The noise was singularly varied ; sometimes, a buzzing like a bumble-bee; sometimes a fine sharp tone like a mosquito's ; sometimes,, a great rush like a train of cars; sometimes, a real shriek or scream like the whistle of a locomotive ; sometimes, an intermittent squeak like an ungreased cartwheel. The last was the case with the eleven-inch shells of one gun mounted on the turn-table at the railroad depot, which fired all around the horizon every night. The Thirteenth boys christened it The Demoralizer! Further along on the right it was known as The Lady Davis! The shells being often empty, their swift rotation caused them to observe a crescendo and diminuendo, which the soldiers translated into, "Where is he ? Where is he ? till they finally exploded into a loud, HERB! The strange sounds were caused by still stranger projectiles; for they fired not only the regulation shot, but such curiosities as explosive bullets, cane-knives, flat-irons, spikes, bolts, nuts, hatchets, ramrods, pig-iron, and wooden plugs wound with cotton!

The Thirteenth busied themselves in constructing rude huts and caves in the soft, steep slope of the ravine, the crest of which was crowned with batteries. The chief fear was that some of these guns, in their recoil, would come crushing down upon our shanties, for they often fired all night. The writer slept with perfect soundness within twenty feet of one piece of artillery which was constantly firing over his head.

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Meantime our sharpshooters were busy at work in front, and rebel bullets sang incessantly through the brush roofs of our huts. The pieces of shell often struck with a heavy thud among us. All day the gigantic game of battle do or and shuttlecock between frowning batteries! All night the meteoric shower of bombs!

Sunday, May 31, Lieut. Beckwith, while trying his skill in shooting, was struck by a bullet which carried. away one toe. His language on the occasion would have led a bystander to infer that he thought, if profanity were ever justifiable, it was precisely then.

Sergeant Eugene Ward's commission as lieutenant arrived this day.

June 1, Col. Warner and Adjutant Whittlesey were taken sick, and departed in ambulances for New Orleans. Captain Comstock, as senior captain, succeeded to the command, Lieut. Gardner was appointed Acting Adjutant. Large guns and mortars were constantly arriving. We were busy every moment ; cutting trees, removing obstructions, making military roads, digging rifle pits, raising counter breastworks, mounting heavy artillery, perfecting our connections, or sharp shooting. The coils of the anaconda were growing tight.

Lieutenant Beaten arrived this day with Co. B from New Orleans, where they had made their way from Washington, La., with a loss of a few who were taken prisoners. Captain Tisdale was left sick in New Orleans. He shortly afterwards secured the position of Assistant Provost Marshal in that, city, and the regiment lost his valuable services.

June 2, expecting a sally, our regiment, by order

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 of Colonel Paine, formed line just after dark on the brow of the ravine, and slept on arms, There was the usual cannon and mortar practice.

June 3, we were occupied with cutting a military road through our ravine, under the supervision of Colonel Paine. This night the enemy shelled us with unusual accuracy.

June 4, Lieutenant Tibbets, one of our best officers, rejoined us after a long sickness. Colonel Paine, for whom we had conceived a hearty respect, was sent to the rear with two brigades, to watch the enemy re-ported hovering there.

June 5, Captain Grosvenor returned from New Orleans, where he had been a month sick.

Several marine batteries of heavy guns from the fleet were in process of erection. One remarkable battery, called the nineteen-gun battery, was built by Hodge's colored regiment, of which the writer had been commissioned lieutenant-colonel. It was on the extreme left, opposite one of the so-called citadels of the rebels. Everything pointed to the coining bombardment preliminary to a great assault. Rifle pits, saps, mines, and parallels, were preparing.

General Sherman's force was on our extreme left; Augur, on the left centre ; Grover, the centre ; Weitzel, the right centre ; the colored brigade, on the extreme right; Farragut and a portion of his fleet, on the river above; the mortar schooners and the rest of the fleet, on the river below; across the river, and behind the levee, the batteries of the Twenty-first Indiana, and Carruth's Massachusetts battery.

June 10, at midnight, there was lively fighting along the entire front. A continuous line of skirmishers

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 had been formed to feel the enemy's strength on all points, ascertain the position of the rebel artillery, and, if the aspect were favorable, scale and carry the fortifications. Heavy cannonading commenced about half an hour after midnight, and continued two or three hours. A thunderstorm came on with blinding lightning and stunning crashes. The gods seemed mingling in the battles of men, as of old on the plains of Troy, The Thirteenth " fell in " under arms, and stood exposed to the hostile fire, but not participating actively in the engagement. Only one man, private Jacob Kehr, Co, P, was wounded seriously. The Twelfth Connecticut were ordered into the hottest fight, and behaved with the utmost gallantry, A portion of them even crossed the breast-works ; but not being supported by the other regiments of Weitzel's division, they were forced to retire with heavy loss. The assault failed on every side.

A tedious, though not copious rain fell next day, which passed rather gloomily ; all sorts of rumors prevailing about the assault of the preceding night, and the coming-general attack. The rebel sharpshooters were rather more active than usual, and the writer remembers with satisfaction several narrow escapes with Lieutenant Averill.

In anticipation of the expected storming of the works, Colonel Paine, who had returned to his former quarters in rear of Co, A, gave instructions to a large number of soldiers in the use of the hand-grenade.

June 12, private Adam Bach, Co. H, was buried by the falling in of his earth house. With difficulty he was extricated alive, entertaining new views on the subject of architecture! Lieutenant Baker, one of our

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best-drilled officers, who was sick, occupied a bomb-proof, constructed by engineer John Ryan, Co G.

The inconveniences to which most of the officers and soldiers were subjected before Port Hudson can hardly be exaggerated. Among other privations there was a great scarcity of water. It was difficult to get enough to drink, and almost impossible to procure enough to wash with. Little of clothing indeed bad we; a shirt, pair of drawers, and pair of socks constituting the whole of our underclothing. The most troublesome plague was vermin. The ground had been a Confederate camp, and was filled with rebel lice. "When Captain Grosvenor returned, June 6, lie asked first-sergeant Sterry, " How are the men ?" " Pretty well," replied the sergeant, " only very lousy!" " What!" said the Captain, " lousy ? We must get rid of that!" Evidently the Captain was not posted. " Captain," said Col. Holcomb to the writer, on the twelfth of June, taking him aside with an air of great mystery and with many apologies, " I have noticed that you-ah-in short-that you-I hope you'll excuse me, for I'm troubled that way myself-I noticed that you-ah-scratch a great deal ! Now probably you think it's a sort of camp itch ! But I tell you, its nothing more nor less than-lice ! The ground's full of 'em, wherever these blamed rebels have been!" "Colonel," was the answer, I've fought 'em an hour a day for weeks past! This morning Col. Birge and staff caught me at it, and asked me, < Captain, what do you find ?' to which I answered in the language of Orpheus C. Kerr, 'only a few harmless insects !' " From the Brigadier General

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 to the private, every man must give an hour a day to exterminate that vile race. Mosquitoes are decent and rattlesnakes quite respectable ; but no man can apologize for lice !

The arrangements for the bombardment had been completed ; the great batteries on every side con-verged on the obstinate fortress; the ships with their volcanic freight were in position ; the sappers and miners had run their parallels and concealed approaches far up towards and, in some cases, beneath the rebel works ; the hand-grenades were filled and distributed to picked men.

June 18, at 11 o'clock, A, M., a furious general bombardment commenced, which the rebels as furiously returned. It lasted two hours, and made considerable havoc among the rebels, dismounting a number of their cannon. It ceased on the appearance of a flag of truce. In vain ! The surrender was demanded, A defiant answer was returned. The seven thousand defenders of Port Hudson could not fly and would not yield.

The night following was unusually quiet, as the writer had. occasion to note, being up on duty as Officer of the Day. Lieut. Strickland, destined to fall in the early morning, was Officer of the Guard, Together we visited the different parts of the line, and his cheerful animated conversation gave no augury of his swift-coming doom. He had been slightly wounded at Irish Bend ; but slight wounds only make a brave mail braver; and he spoke of the coming engagement with. Confidence.

Colonel Holcomb, who fell by Strickland's side, was ardently in favor of the storming, " It's no use to

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 dilly-dally," said he to Dr. Clary, as he was moving Ms brigade to its position the evening before the battle ; " We'll take the place, even if we leave half of our officers dead on the field !"

By some ill-advised calculation Sunday was fixed upon for the assault, Sunday attacks are seldom successful. This was no exception.

At 8 o'clock, A.M., Sunday, June 14,1863, the regiments moved to take the places assigned them for the bloody drama. Some of them lost their way in the dark maze of woods and lanes. The Thirteenth groped to the left till it reached the Jackson road, where we awaited the rest of the Third Brigade, Grower's Division. We were to be the right of the brigade line. The brigade of Colonel Holcomb was in. front. We were to act as a reserve. Some regiments were late in reaching the posts assigned. The Twelfth Connecticut was detained more than an hour through the ignorance of a staff officer who undertook to con-duct them. The Ninety-first New York carried hand-grenades. The Twenty-fourth Connecticut, each man carrying two gunny-bags filled with cotton, followed the Twelfth Connecticut. The latter were deployed as skirmishers to the left; the Seventy-fifth New York, to the right. As we lay next the road waiting for orders we got a little hot coffee."

It was intended, that the assault should be simultaneous on several points, and should be a surprise, The favorable moment, of course, would be the first dawn of day. But before this, the deafening roar of cannon far and near, and the hiss of shot tearing through the trees, told us that the enemy comprehended the movement.

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At daylight the Thirteenth passed into the road and marched across the bridge up to a sort of plateau swept by the enemy's guns. We were halted there and ordered to lie down. As we lay there, a large number of wounded were brought past us, and a hospital was hastily established on the slope. The presence of the groaning sufferers, and the rather rough performances of the surgeons, were not calculated to whet the appetite for battle. We looked on in silence.

It is impossible to convey in words any adequate Idea of the difficulties, natural and artificial, presented by the ground between .us and the enemy. There were forty or fifty rods of standing timber, and then many precipitous, crooked ravines, filled with a tangled mass of felled trees, vines and brambles ; and the level ground was scarcely less obstructed ; all being in clear view and point-blank range of the enemy's works, from which arose incessant puffs of smoke, as their men fired from safe cover, A winding path, three or four feet wide, occasionally protected by logs, sand-bags and earth, had been dug and cut from the edge of the woods thirty or forty rods along the gullies towards the rebel works, but even this was expos-ed in part to a hostile fire, and terminated abruptly many rods from the fortifications. Such was the ground in front of the Federal center.

Nothing looks so formidable to an enemy as even and steady lines of infantry, in successive waves advancing with unbroken front and covering the ground from right to left, This was the formation in which we had been so successful at Labadieville, Irish Bend and Vermilion Bayou; but it was utterly impracticable

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 here. There could be no swift deployment; no regular nor rapid advance, if deployed.

At sunrise the Thirteenth was slowly pressing its way by the right flank between stragglers, wounded men, trees and stretchers, to the entrance of the narrow path above described. The place should have been surprised; but the different onsets were not well-timed. The hand-grenades, from which so much had been . expected, proved a failure ; some were thrown too soon, others did not explode ; some were picked up Inside and hurled back at the besiegers. A few did their work, and killed several rebels. The head of the column staggered, and finally melted away, under the fire from the fortifications. Owing to the obstructions on the ground, the supports which were ordered up arrived too late, and each successive body of troops had to sustain the whole weight of the rebel fire.

The Thirteenth reached the edge of the wood, between which and the enemy lay the mass of felled timber. Two or three rods from the narrow channel which formed the only practicable entrance to the irregular ground in front, sat General Weitzel on a fallen tree. There was a few minutes* halt. The onward movements of the regiments in front ceased. A report was just circulating that our troops had effected a lodgment inside. The writer asked Weitzel if it were true. He answered with a despondent look, "No. We've not got a foothold inside," "Why can't we go in at once ?" asked the writer. " We can go in," he replied, "if the officers and men will only do their duty." " Have the enemy massed their troops at this point ? " " 1 don't think they have," he replied ;

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" and if they have, we've got more men right in here between us and the works than their whole garrison." In this the General was much mistaken, but he probably said it for effect upon the listeners. An aid from General Banks now came up, breathless with haste. " General," said he, " General Banks orders that yon force an entrance at once into -the rebel works at all hazards." Yes," replied Weitzel; and then, to a staff officer, " Give my compliments to Colonel Holcomb, and tell him to go in immediately." His cool, yet unsatisfied and discouraged air, astonished some of us, who looked for an impetuous charge by the favorite young general. We had unbounded confidence in him, and would have followed him. any-where. But Weitzel was an engineer, and engineers are slow. He did not favor bloody and hazardous assaults, either at Port Hudson or at Fort Fisher. He had no faith in storming columns. It was currently reported that he said to General Banks, " I can take Port Hudson without losing a man; and I should consider such a victory as evidencing higher generalship than to carry the place by storm and lose a thousand men." We left Weitzel sitting on his log, with the shot flying over his head, and we pressed forward to support Holcomb.

The narrow path, in many places a mere ditch, was obstructed by dead and wounded, by men carrying stretchers, and by stragglers making their way to the rear, Every available cover behind stumps, logs or earth, every little depression of the ground that could shelter from the enemy's fire, was occupied. Hand-grenades were scattered along the path ; also muskets, bayonets, cartridge-boxes and belts, gunny-bags filled

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 with cotton, and here and there pools of blood. crowded along by the flank in four or two ranks, or in single file, towards the indescribable din. The van of the Thirteenth issued from the dry ditch into the open space5 and the regiment caught a glimpse of Colonel Holcomb, who had just received Bank's last order through Weitzel, and had commenced a brief speech to his men. " There's Colonel Holcomb !" shouted a score of voices, and a cheer., long and loud, rose from the Thirteenth Connecticut as they recognized their old major. They rushed forward at the instant on the sloping broken ground, to where Holcomb was haranguing his men. The fire from the breastworks perceptibly slackened at the voice of the regiment, and the writer saw a few rebels turn and run from the parapet. But the blaze of musketry was soon re-kindled, fierce as ever. An unsteady mass of men of different regiments, a mob rather than an army, the various commands seeming blended, some enthusiastic and eager, but most of them evidently disheartened and shrugging their shoulders, were listening to his fiery emphasis His speech was like the growl and roar of a lion ; upbraiding some, threatening some, encouraging others; and concluding with, " All I ask of you is to follow me! Will you follow me?" '"Yes! Yes!" shouted fifty voices; but far more were silent. The majority sat sullen and cowed. Not satisfied with the response, he turned to the Thirteenth Connecticut, about half of whom had now arrived, and he exclaimed, " There's the glorious old Thirteenth Connecticut! I know they'll follow me ! Thirteenth, I'll lead you !" Glancing round and seeing nothing of the senior captain, the writer, being

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 next in rank, answered in a loud voice, " The Thirteenth Connecticut will follow Colonel Holcomb any-where," A rousing cheer sanctioned the promise. The following, from "the writer's diary, was written next day:

"After urging the officers and soldiers of other regiments, all of whom were huddled together in the narrow hollow, or piled behind logs and stumps, he [Holcomb] called on the Thirteenth to follow him. Our regiment at this moment was somewhat broken and scattered, and the companies were partly mixed with those of other regiments. Some of our best companies on the right were separated from us : the broken ground and mass of logs in the gullies and on .the hill-side, near the top of which Colonel Holcomb and other officers stood, prevented anything like a regimental front. My immediate attention was, of course, given to my own company, which had kept together admirably, one sergeant and three privates only having be-come separated from the rest and left behind in the melee. Not seeing our regimental commander, who was supposed to be on the right, and who, we thought, had perhaps fallen, I asked Colonel Holcomb to delay the charge a moment, until I could get the left wing info position to make a united movement. He assented. I immediately commenced moving my own and the other companies obliquely to the left and front, to give breadth to our advance and secure some-thing like a line of battle ; meanwhile endeavoring to encourage the men by exhortation and example. I tried to bring the men, every man, as far to the front as possible, before starting, without exposing them too much ; in order that, at the word, each might have

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 the least practicable distance to pass while making a simultaneous spring on the rebels. But before these arrangements had been completed, and almost before they had begun, Col. Holcomb, swinging his sword gave the command, " Forward !" The Thirteenth leaped to the front, mixed with the troops of Holcomb's brigade. The impassable portions of the ground instantly destroyed the unity of the advance. The right of the regiment was upon and beyond the bluff; the center, near Holcomb, but moving diagonally to the left with infinite difficulty. The portion of troops nearest Holcomb, riot having so much rough ground to pass over, got in advance of the others, and became instantly exposed to the hottest fire. For the most part they were shot down at once. Colonel Holcomb dropped dead : Lieutenant Strickland fell near him, each pierced through the head by a musket ball. Captain Grosvenor received a bullet through the arm. Acting Adjutant Gardner, of the Thirteenth, was wounded in the throat. Colonel Gerard, Twenty-second Maine, Colonel Morgan, Ninetieth New-York, each commanding a brigade; Colonel Hubbard, Twenty-sixth Maine, Major Burt, One hundred fifty-ninth New York, arid some other field officers, were present; but no one took the place of Colonel Holcomb, who alone of the field officers seemed to do anything effective, or have any heart or faith in the movement. The left wing, still struggling forward, now got in advance of the right and of the troops massed about Colonel Holcomb, who were fast falling, when private Blake of my company came running to me, and exclaimed, " Captain, Col. Holcomb is kill-ed!" " Get back to your place, sir," I replied ; It's

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 no such thing!" " But Captain, he certainly is kill-ed ! See, here are his brains all scattered over my coat!" A glance confirmed the terrible fact; but we hoped still to reach and scale the parapet, and I instantly repeated, " Get back to your place in the ranks, sir. Forward! men. Forward!" But the troops on the right had almost vanished. All were thrown into confusion by the unforeseen obstacles, trees, gullies, logs ; yet we still pressed obliquely for-ward towards the enemy's works, a goodly number from other regiments being mixed in with and following the Thirteenth, We reached a ravine not previously known, almost under the breastwork, and nearly parallel. Into this ravine we poured pell-mell. It arrested our progress. Most fortunate for us was the shelter it afforded; for we had not men enough with us to maintain ourselves long, had we reached the inside of the works. An increasing tempest of every species of shot and shell now tore the broken plateau, over which we had charged, and no supports could reach us, Colonel Holcomb having fallen, and. almost the whole of the advancing column being thrown into confusion by the well-nigh insuperable obstacles, and most of the storming party greatly retarded by logs, bushes, briers, and gullies, and the leader of the movement killed, the assault failed. The right of my company was within a few feet of Colonel Holcomb when he fell; privates Blackmail, Johnson, Blake, and sergeant Adams being almost within touching distance of him."

Whoever came up to this point was obliged to run the gauntlet of the enemy's fire ; but under the urgent orders of General Banks, when we had partly silenced

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 the rebel guns, from five hundred to a thousand had been pushed forward to it before ten o'clock, A. M. We lay within thirty yards of the breastwork.

We immediately commenced re-forming our companies, and separating the Thirteenth from the fragments of other commands. A rebel redoubt, known as The Priest's Cap, projected from the parapet just on our right. The fire from a salient angle of it proving very troublesome, the writer sent Company E under Lieut. Beaton to take post behind a large log on a knoll, and silence the enemy's sharp-shooters. Hardly had they got into position, when Capt. Coin-stock, who now arrived on the spot, ordered their re-call; alleging that they were too much exposed. About the same time Colonels Gerard, Hubbard, Morgan and Putnam, and Major Burt arrived. Captain De Forest came up, an accomplished officer of the Twelfth Connecticut, who richly deserved a brigadier general's shoulder-straps, but was both too modest to urge his claims and too honest to pull the wires and bribe the politico-military authorities. Captain Fuller of the Thirteenth now came, bringing the edifying intelligence that he had just seen and examined the dead body of the writer of this history!

The sunshine was now burning like fire. We suffered greatly from thirst. A peremptory order came from Banks to the senior officer of the troops at this point to enter the works at all hazards. Again and again similar orders came.

" Those behind cried Forward, "But those before said Back!"

Col. Hubbard expressed a readiness to follow, but not to lead. He considered it "a perfect slaughter

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 pen," Major Burt offered to follow with a portion of the One hundred fifty-ninth New York, but did not believe we could hold the ground, if we took it. Col. Gerard said, " If General Banks wants to go in there, let him go in and be d--! I wont slaughter my men in that way," Col. Morgan said, " If General Banks or any staff officer will examine this ground, and then say we ought to make the assault, I'll make it. Tell General Banks I've sent for an engineer to examine the position," Col. Hubbard asked : " Col. Gerard, If I'll lead with my brigade, will you follow and support me ?" He answered in the affirmative. But Col. Hubbard did not lead. Capt. Comstock said he was ready to follow with the Thirteenth Con-necticut, but thought it nonsense to undertake it. Col. Day of the One hundred thirty-first New York, came up with his coat off. Said lie, " I started out this morning with the determination to be a h-- of a fellow ! I've been a h-- of a fellow long enough. If anybody else wants to be a h- of a fellow, I've no objections! But it's too d- risky !" Cols. Gerard and Morgan were soon afterwards dishonor-ably dismissed for disobedience of orders.

So the assault was not renewed. Meanwhile the lead and iron rained around us, and the accuracy of the shots was truly astonishing. Some of our men were hit lying in the very bottom of the gully, as if the balls dropped from the sky!

Repeated orders to renew the assault on the works in our front, which General Banks seemed to consider the key to the town, having been disregarded, he sent Lieut. Francis, former Adjutant of Wilson's Zouaves, with a request for the formation of a storming column

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 of two hundred men to lead the attack, promising promotion to every officer and man who should volunteer. Col. Hubbard promulgated the order. Lieut. Beaton, of Co. E, Thirteenth Conn., was the first officer to volunteer. Private Blackman, of Go. H, Thirteenth Conn., was the first enlisted man. An officer of the One hundred fifty-ninth New York came forward, and said he had twenty men "who would follow him in. Capt. Sprague notified Col. Hubbard and his company that he would be one of the number. Volunteers were fast coming forward, and the two hundred would soon have been obtained. Meanwhile a sort of council of war was held among the regimental commanders, every one of whom opposed the scheme, Capt. Comstock well expressed the prevailing views by say- in, " I think, if we're going in at all, we ought to go in by regiments under the senior officer ; and this talk of a storming column of- two hundred men is all boys' play." In the midst of this discussion, and when the requisite number had been nearly made up, an aid of General Banks came in haste, countermanding the order ; assigning as a reason, " Two heavy lines of rebel infantry have been discovered, lying back a little distance inside the works, at this point."

On the summit of a hillock in rear of our right wing, and near the spot where Col. Holcomb fell, was a little breast-work of cotton-bags, which some of our Union soldiers had rolled before them as a protection against rebel bullets. Behind these, some half-a-dozen brave men kept firing on the enemy. One by one they were struck by the shot, which constantly knock-ed up the dust around them. For a long time this

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 continued, until the cotton took fire, either from a shell or from their own muskets. As it burned we saw it apparently consume the clothing and the bodies of the dead and dying. As it reached their cartridge-boxes, we saw the quick explosions of ammunition. Here and there in sight lay some of our soldiers be-hind stumps, the perpetual target of the rebel rifle-men. One soldier in particular lay on his back, perfectly straight and motionless behind a little stump; but, about once every half-hour he would cautiously turn over, aim, fire, and re-load! We could not go-to their assistance, nor could they stir from their perilous position.

Of all that fell on this fourteenth of June, no one was more sincerely lamented than Charlie Merwin, drummer of Co; A; a handsome boy of seventeen years, brave, amiable, patriotic, a favorite with all. Before light he had voluntarily gone to the bloody front, to assist in carrying off the wounded. At eleven in the morning, while carrying a wounded man on a stretcher, to get him out of the reach of bullets, a rifle ball shattered his leg. It was amputated on the field. He was taken to New Orleans. A second and a third amputation became necessary, and he sank under the terrible suffering.

The day passed slowly-a long, exciting, mournful day. The fierce sun above us, we were tormented by thirst. We were faint with hunger. Every heart was sad at the loss of comrades, But we kept the enemy on the qui vive. Cos. A and B were stationed. on the brow of the ravine, just below the rebel line of fire. Here they acted as sharp-shooters, Not the smallest part of an enemy could be exposed without

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 receiving a volley of bullets. At dusk Cos. C, I H and K relieved them, and crawled up to within two or three rods of the parapet.

At ten o'clock at night a staff officer crept up to our position, and whispered to us that the enemy were supposed to be massing on the right, to cut their way out, and that the Thirteenth was to move back in silence to the position of the preceding night, and hold itself in readiness to assist in repelling them. This change was noiselessly executed, " No sortie was made. Next morning saw us in our old position under the two batteries.

Such was the action of the Thirteenth Connecticut in the combined assault on Port Hudson, June 14, 1863. Surely, it was by no fault of. ours that it did not succeed. We had done all that was required of us, and more. We had been ordered to act as a reserve; but by the sheer force of enthusiasm and without positive orders, the Thirteenth rose equal to the emergency and worked their way up to the "forefront of the hottest battle."

And now came the fearfully depressing realization that all these efforts, all this heroism, and all this appalling carnage, had failed. Yonder still floated the rebel flag. Their batteries still dammed the great river. From their bands inside, we could hear their jubilant secession music. We were defeated ! With bitter anguish we thought of this, and then of the unavailing slaughter of our near and dear friends. Two thousand men, young, gallant, brave, the flower of our army, had fallen. In the gloomy hospital, or still under the rebel fire on the scorched field, they were

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 sleeping their last sleep or writhing in agony ! And all in vain!

No, not in vain ! For home, country, honor, freedom, civilization, they had indeed poured out their' blood like water. On our right lay the bleeding form of Col. Paine. Besprinkling the garments of our soldiers were the brains of the gifted Holcomb. The thirsty earth drank the life-blood of our loved Strickland, and McManus, and Carey, and Cramm, and Burns, and Merwin ; and how many more! In the-dense thicket, in the deep gully, in the tangled-ravine, in the open field, on the hostile ramparts, wherever the mimic lightning blazed, or the hissing bolt-flew, or the huge shell thundered in showers of death, they cheerfully gave their lives. Many a heroic deed of that eventful day will forever remain untold. Many a manly form sleeps in an unknown grave beneath those crimsoned battlements. But, thank God!* each patriot name, each self-sacrificing soul, forgotten here, yet " liveth evermore I" And, long as the -Mississippi shall roll its mighty volume to the sea, the memory of Port Hudson shall kindle the loftiest emotions of every lover of the human race.

June 15, we rested.

Capt. Blinn, who had been two months separated from us by sickness, in New-Orleans, now re-joined us.

June 16 was memorable for the publication of the famous order of General Banks, calling for the formation of a " storming column of one thousand men p and memorable, too, for the ready response which the Thirteenth Connecticut gave. No truer, sharper test of the spirit of the army could have been devised.

In the Union ranks all was gloom. The very sun

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 seemed to shine in mockery. Three weeks previously Gen. Banks had issued a flaming order, concluding with the high-sounding promise that in three days the Union flag should float from the rebel bulwarks ! But the determined onset of May 24, and the great struggle of May 27, had both met a bloody repulse. The incessant sharp shooting by day and shelling by night had not lessened the energy of the besieged, The midnight assault, June 10, had been terribly disastrous. The furious bombardment of June 13, had been as furiously defied. And the fourteenth of June ! Its smoke had hardly cleared away. Its hundreds of corpses were still blackening in the sun. The groans of its wounded were yet heard on every side. The heart sickened at the horrors of that day, and its great catalogue of victims. The long-continued, elaborate preparations, and the prodigious slaughter, seemed useless. The belief became almost universal that only by the slow process of starving out the garrison could we capture the stronghold. The army had seen enough of assaults and of storming columns.

But could we spare the time ? Was there not danger that the bold and skillful Johnson, hovering in rear of Grant's besieging army at Vicksburg, would suddenly strike a blow at us and raise the siege of Port Hudson?

The Thirteenth Connecticut believed itself almost invincible. We felt that a swift onset by a few hundred men, every one of whom knew how to die but not how to retreat or surrender, would surely effect a lodgment inside; and we believed there were brave men enough who would spring to their support, if properly handled, and give us Port Hudson in two hours.

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Such were the reasonings of the officers and men of the Thirteenth when the inspiring call of Gen. Banks always more potent in rhetoric than in arms, rang out like a trumpet, " To the bold men " of the army and navy, thirty thousand strong who, for weeks had fixed their eyes on the frowning battlements with a determination to plant there the flag of liberty, he appealed with singular eloquence and power. He promised a medal of honor to every soldier and promotion to every officer, who should volunteer to form a " Storming Column of One Thousand Men " and lead the final charge. The Thirteenth neither asked nor cared for these rewards, nor ever murmured because the promises so lavishly made were never kept. A few of us were brevetted in the summer of 1866 for gallantry at Port Hudson in the summer of 1863.

The different companies were called up and the order (General Order No. 49, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf,) was read to them. Volunteering immediately commenced. Three days after its publication one hundred and fifty men of the Thirteenth Connecticut had volunteered. When it became known that our old Colonel, Birge, was to lead them, there were many other accessions. In three weeks, sixteen officers and two hundred and twenty-five enlisted men of the Thirteenth had joined this forlorn hope ! This comprised more than half of those who were present for duty. No other regiment, nor even, any other whole brigade furnished so many men for the enterprise as the Thirteenth Connecticut alone. The nearest approach to this was made by the two colored regiments, which together gave two hundred men. The Twenty-fifth Connecticut, never lacking in

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 patriotism or courage, sent but one officer and thro enlisted men ; whose names were several times published, as evincing remarkable patriotism, in the Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of Connecticut. Of the companies in the Thirteenth G did the best, nearly every man present for duty having volunteered. This was due in part to the active exertions of first-sergeant Charles B. Hut chins afterwards lieutenant in the Corps d' Afrique. Among the non-combatants who volunteered for this perilous work was Hospital Steward William Bishop, Thirteenth Connecticut, as brave a man as ever faced death in battle.

It is not to be supposed that all were actuated by patriotism alone. Possibly none were entirely free from selfish promptings. Some were ambitious of distinction ; others may have believed they could not honorably refuse. Some perhaps were quite unaware of the fearful risk. A few may have been weary of life:. A few too were suspected of designing to recede at the last moment, on some pretence ; meanwhile, and perhaps always, enjoying the reputation of being brave, patriotic men.

But the majority knew the situation, reverenced the call of their country, and freely offered to sacrifice on her altar even life itself. It was the fruit of no sudden impulse, no thoughtless folly, no reckless desperation. Calmly and widely they surveyed the field of danger and of duty, weighed the considerations, calculated the contingencies, and prepared for either fate,-to share the reward of the victorious brave, or tie like the nameless three hundred at Thermopylae.

The author of this history wrote out the last will

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 and testament of some of these men; witnessed the transfer of money, watches, jewelry, and keepsakes to their comrades who were to remain behind ; and wrote letters giving what they feared were their last messages to the loved ones at home. From an officer's diary Is extracted the following memorandum, dated June 16, 1863, just after he had volunteered in the storming column : " I have in my possession about two hundred and twenty dollars In Treasury Notes, of which, in case of my death, I wish to have two hundred sent to my wife,.

***** * * * * * *

For her sake I wish my remains to be sent, sooner or later, * * * * for interment, Dr. Clary or Chaplain Upson is requested to see to the execution of the foregoing."

June 19, the Thirteenth moved circuitously to new ground two miles to the right, and within about a mile of the negro brigade. Here those who were not of the storming party remained till the surrender. Volunteering for this forlorn hope was still going on.

June 25, Lieutenant Kinney and another officer prepared a petition to General Banks as follows:

" Thirteenth Regiment, Conn., Vols., Before Port Hudson, June 25,1863. )

GENERAL:

The undersigned, comprising all the officers of the above-named regiment, present for duty, having volunteered as members of the Storming Party called for by General Orders, No. 49, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, beg leave respectfully to request that the intended assault may not be made on a Sunday." Two captains and one lieutenant refused to sign it.

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June 26, the storming column marched to the ground designated for its camp. The place was half a mile from the camp of the Thirteenth. It was separated from the rest of the army and organized in two battalions, which were carefully drilled, instructed and held in readiness to move at five minutes' notice. Scaling ladders arid other requisite implements were preparing.

All the officers present having volunteered as stormers, except the sick, it became necessary to appoint some officer to the command of those not included among the stormers. Captain Comstock, senior officer commanding, accordingly detailed Captain Sprague to perform that duty, who appointed Lieutenant Kinney acting adjutant. Both of these officers were amongst the stormers, and declined the appointment until assured by Colonel Birge that whenever the storming column moved, they should join it.

By request of the enlisted men, non-stormers, Captain Sprague on the twenty-seventh of June obtained from Colonel Birge a promise that the remainder of the regiment should follow immediately in rear of the stormers, as their first support; a position hardly less perilous or less honorable than the storming column itself. This showed that the remnant of the regiment had no intention of lagging behind in the momentous struggle. So the whole of the Thirteenth was virtually in the assaulting column.

There being no company officers present for duty with the non-stormers, Captain Sprague consolidated these temporarily into five companies under the command of sergeants. The same day, it being reported that the stormers were immediately to make the

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assault, he obtained written permission from Colonel Birge for himself and Lieutenant Kinney to act as his staff officers in the expected movement. The band of the Thirteenth Connecticut played this evening at the dress parade of the selected storming brigade. It being again rumored that the enemy were intending to cut their way out this night, the regiment slept on their arms.

June 29, sharpshooters were called for, under the name of " crack shots," to report at Graver's Head quarters. Captain Sprague sent from the Thirteenth privates Maloy, Me Williams, Rice, Adams, Richmond, Austin, Gardner, Haight, Peck and Mathews. At four o'clock, we " fell in " for review by Gen. Banks. He not appearing, we broke ranks, and again " fell in." at six o'clock. Waiting in line till eight o'clock, word came that he was " indisposed ;" but would re view us next day at ten, o'clock. Accordingly, June 80, he reviewed and addressed the stormers and Birge's brigade. His speech was remarkably eloquent and appropriate. In it he promised us' we should celebrate the coming Fourth of July inside Port Hudson.

Lieutenant Beckwith arrived from opposite and Immediately entered the storming column. Captain Sprague mustered the Thirteenth for pay.

July 2, the names of the Thirteenth officers in the forlorn hope were taken as-follows :

Field and Staff-Colonel Henry W. Birge, commanding the column.

Company A-Lieutenants Charles E. Tibbets, John C. Kinney.

Company B-Captain A. Comstock, Lieutenant Louis Beckwith.

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Company C-Captain O, D. Blinn, Lieutenant M, W. Perkins.

Company D-Captain C. J. Fuller, Lieutenant Perry Averill.

Company E-Lieutenant Charles S, Beaten.

Company G-Captain D, H. Finley

Company H-Captain Homer B. Sprague,

Company I-Lieutenants Prank Wells, Louis Meissner.

Company K-Lieutenants W, F. Norman, Charles Daniels.

This day was signalized by the capture of Springfield Landing, our principal base of supplies on the river a few miles below Port Hudson. A guerilla party held the place an hour, cut off our communications, and took a number of wagons. The wagoner of Company B, " Dutch John," was taken ; but had the shrewdness to deceive his_ captors by pretending to be lame! Getting permission to ride a mule, he rode away at the first corner and soon rejoined us!

Sergeant Brown, Company H, seeing privates Cashin and " Big Dugan " absent without leave, disguised himself as a guerilla, captured them both, and to their astonishment marched them back into the camp of the Thirteenth!

July 3, we received orders to be in readiness to make the grand attack at fifteen minutes' notice.

July 4, we held a meeting of officers, at which resolutions were drawn up by the writer in honor of the lamented Strickland.

At noon Farragut fired a national salute with shotted guns into the rebel works. Quartermaster Bromley, was sent to look after our baggage stored at Bayou

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Boeuf and Brashear City. These places had been captured by the rebels.

July 5, and no assault by the storming column ! Experienced miners were now called for by General Grover. We sent privates Warner, Wagner, and Barnes.

July 6, a large force of the enemy was reported in our rear. The non-stormers of the Thirteenth were moved back by Captain Sprague a mile and a half near the Bayou Sara road, to repel any attack from that quarter. It rained on us at night, but we had become used to that. No hostile demonstration was made against us, except by a furious and most boisterous bull. But a " strong bull of Bashan " is no despicable foe.

July 7, the regiment returned to camp. The order to keep on hand two clays' cooked rations and be in readiness to move at fifteen minutes notice, was re-' Yoked by a circular from General Grover. This was-in consequence of the glorious intelligence of the fall of Vicksburg on the fourth. An unutterable weight was now lifted from our minds; for we knew that we were safe from any attack by Johnson, and that the capture of Fort Hudson was only a question of time.

In company with Chaplain Upson, Captain Cornwell, and Lieut. Kinney of the Thirteenth, and Quartermaster Ives of the Twenty-fifth, the writer rode to Col. Nelson's head-quarters. He commanded a colored regiment. We found him in high glee at receiving a hundred Confederate dollars, which he had just won in a bet with a rebel major inside the works. He had laid a wager that Vicksburg had surrendered. The understanding was that the Confederate paper

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 should be replaced by greenbacks in New Orleans. His interview with the rebels was amusingly told, He had been in the habit of conversing during the siege with the rebel officers in his front, and had de-lighted in telling them the most egregious lies, Among other things he had gravely informed the major that the besiegers were so pleasantly situated they had no desire of terminating the siege ! that nothing would suit us better than to remain before Port Hudson until winter, and we should regard it as a positive misfortune to capture the place ! that consequently, we had never assaulted the place in earnest ! that we were abundantly supplied with every luxury the New Orleans market could afford ! that most of the officers had little gardens near their tents, which furnished lettuce, radishes, onions and all kinds of garden sauce daily ! and, particularly, that the Sanitary Commission had established beautiful pavilions, a quarter of a mile apart, all around our lines, where the weary soldier could at any time obtain ice-creams, iced lemonade, and other liquors and luxuries, all gratis !

A cessation of hostilities was now proclaimed along the whole lines.

Three commissioners, of whom Colonel Birge was one, met three rebel commissioners and agreed upon terms of surrender.

Towards evening the writer rode with Lieut. Baker along the rebel works, where many a smoldering corpse, a clotted mass of corruption, told how dreadful had been the struggle. Everywhere was wild excitement. White flags, white handkerchiefs, strips of canvas, and balls of cotton, were hung on every part

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 of the works. The long, long agony was over. Here at least the demon of war should be drunk 'with human blood nevermore.

As a special mark of honor the storming brigade entered Port Hudson the morning of July 9, to receive the surrender. A deserved recognition of the distinguished services of the Thirteenth was seen in the fact, that our colors and our band were selected from all others to grace the triumphal pageant. We marched down near the railroad depot and then turned to the right past the long line of six thousand prisoners. These looked ragged and rough, but in good flesh and healthy. They appeared to be rather taller and larger than the average of our men, We could hear them mutter repeatedly in low tones, " D- you ! You couldn't take us by fighting ! Yon had to starve us out!" At the- command, " Ground Arms!" they flung them spitefully down.

The ceremony over, our two hundred and forty stormers. rejoined the remainder of the regiment. Here we found two rebel prisoners, Lieut-col. Lee, Fifteenth Arkansas, and Captain Hardee, Miles' Legion, Louisiana, They had been intercepted in at-tempting to escape, having been two days in the swamps without food, trying to pass our pickets. Giving them as good a dinner as we were able to provide, and furnishing Capt. Hardee with a copious supply of whiskey, the writer sent them to General Grover under charge of Sergeant Aldrich. Col. Lee was one of the few rebel officers who never drank a drop of liquor.

With Lieuts. Tibbets and Beaton, and Lieut-col. Weld of the Twenty-fifth, the writer visited the in-side of the stronghold.

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" Juvat ire et Dorica castra Desertosque videre locos litusque relictum. Classibus hie locus; hie acie certare solebant."

Cannon shot had sadly mangled the "church and some other buildings. The ground was everywhere scooped out in. enormous hollows, where the vast bomb-shells of the fleet had fallen and burst. The logs which in many places surmounted the parapet, were packed full of lead from our muskets. The rebel artillery bore remarkable testimony to the ac-curacy of ours, a great proportion of their heavy guns being dismounted. Where our approaches came nearest, extraordinary precautions had been taken. Torpedoes had been thickly planted outside and in-side the parapet. Our mines had been met by countermines. Where our column had penetrated with the Thirteenth Connecticut at its head on the fatal fourteenth of June, the inside had been thick set with pointed stakes inclining towards the parapet. But a description of these and a thousand kindred things belongs more appropriately elsewhere.

Such was the part taken by the Thirteenth Connecticut in the eventful siege of Port Hudson. By its heroic conduct in every emergency, and especially on the fourteenth of June, and more especially still in the grand Storming Column of one thousand, the regiment placed itself far in advance of all rivalry. No spot dims the brightness of that page. The regiment stood alone. For days and weeks two hundred and forty-one of its members looked death in the face, and offered all on their country's altar. Full well they knew, for hard experience had taught them, the ground over which they must pass, the wall of fire

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 and steel they must climb, the whirlwind of shot they must face. When all other regiments shrunk back and clung to life, the Thirteenth Connecticut pressed forward, and with the sublimest courage and self-sacrifice they dared the issue!

How delightful the repose that followed! The siege had been one long-continued battle; a battle that lasted forty-four days after the investment was complete, Vicksburg was not so bloody. Seven millions of projectiles had been fired by us since we started for Port Hudson ! But now the seemingly endless din had ceased, and we felt how sweet rest! how prophetic, too, of that " nobler rest.

No rude alarms of raging foes; No groans to mingle with the songs No cares to break the long repose ; That warble from immortal tonges !"